We are three weeks away from Easter Sunday (or Resurrection Sunday). The week before Easter I will be on Spring Break with my family and I will not share Today’s Word. This leaves me just two weeks of messages before we celebrate the event that separates Christianity from every other world religion: the resurrection of Jesus. That being the case, I will pause from our current series and share messages about Jesus and the road to the resurrection for the next two weeks. I pray that you understand and appreciate what Jesus did for you on Calvary.
Let’s start our journey by looking at the redeeming power of Jesus’ blood. The Apostle Paul said it this way:
(Eph 1:5-7 The Passion Translation)
For it was always in his perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children, through our union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that his tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify his grace—for the same love he has for his Beloved One, Jesus, he has for us. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure! Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace.
This message will center around the importance of the Blood of Jesus and the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross. We were all born as captives. We were born as slaves to the power of sin and the fear of death. We were born this way because of Adam. We could not get out of the situation ourselves. We needed someone to redeem us. It was like we were being held captive and we needed someone to pay our ransom. We were born bound and we needed someone to pay the debt to secure our freedom. The major problem with our situation is that our captor was not willing to accept money. The only suitable payment for our life would be another life. Someone would actually have to trade their life for ours before we could escape the clutches of sin. Our text speaks of redemption by the Blood of Jesus.
Webster defines redemption as the repurchase of captured goods or prisoners; the act of procuring the deliverance of persons or things from the possession and power of captors by the payment of an equivalent ransom. The key words are “equivalent ransom.”
In Acts 20:28 Luke tells us that Jesus purchased (redeemed) us with His own blood. In the Old Testament, the blood of animals could only serve as a temporary ‘covering’ for sin, because the blood of animals was not an equivalent ransom for the sin of man. The only proper payment for the deliverance of a human from the power of sin would have to be the blood of another human. Not just any human, but a perfect human, the perfect sacrifice, the Son of God! God offered His own Son as the payment for Adam’s sin.
Jesus came to get us out of everything Adam got us into and he did it by purchasing our redemption with His untainted blood. Jesus paid the ultimate price so we could live the ultimate life! That’s what Easter Sunday is all about.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. Because of Adam, sin and death were introduced into the world. All humans are born in sin and are subject to death because of one man. But the good news is that another man came. His name is Jesus. Jesus came to redeem us from sin and to deliver us from the fear and power of death. Jesus go us OUT OF everything Adam got us INTO! We have redemption by His Blood!
2. In the Old Testament innocent animals died for sinful man. But the blood of goats, bullocks and turtledoves could only serve as a temporary solution to a permanent problem (Heb 9:12).
3. God sent His own Son (the Last Adam) to die in our place, paying an equivalent ransom and delivering us from the power of sin, the sting of death, and the bondage of satan (Gal 3:13, 1 Jn 1:7, Rev 5:9).
4. The Ransom is paid, the captor has been defeated and the captured have been released – Hallelujah! Wouldn’t it be foolish for a released prisoner to go back to a defeated captor and willingly imprison him or herself again? Well, that is exactly what you do when you go back to sin and satan. You have been delivered from the power of sin by the Blood of Jesus our Lord. Walk in your freedom today and every day.
5. Easter Sunday is not about bunny rabbits or colorful eggs. It is about Blood, a cross, and AN EMPTY TOMB! Jesus suffered, bled, died, and He then rose from the dead with all power in His hand. We serve a living Savior. Jesus is His name. As you enter into this day you can embrace His resurrection power! Think about that as you enter every meeting, as you engage in every conversation and as you conduct all your activity today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, thank You for loving me enough to send Your own Son to die in my place. The blood of goats, bullocks and turtledoves could never serve as an equivalent payment for the sin of man. Adam got us into a mess. Jesus came to get me out of everything Adam go me into. Jesus paid a price I could not pay for a debt He did not owe. Jesus willingly took on my sin and offered me His righteousness, so that I could take on His righteousness and lay down my sin. I am covered by the Blood of Jesus. I am filled with the Holy Spirit. I am called according to Your purpose. I am FREE by Your grace! I enter this day as a cleansed, delivered, purified, and set apart warrior in the Kingdom of God. I do not entangle myself again with sin or satan. I am redeemed! I have been bought with a price. I live my life in honor of Jesus’ death! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
